‘Kosher Jesus’ book irks Rabbi

Toronto-based anti-Evangelist Orthodox Rabbi Immanuel Schochet has condemned American Zionist Rabbi Shmuley Boteach’s latest book ‘Kosher Jesus’ – calling it “heretical book“. In a letter to the Jewish news website, The Algemeiner, he has forbidden Jews to buy or read ‘Kosher Jesus’.

“While it is not normally my style to write letters of condemnation, having read the book, I feel it poses a tremendous risk to the Jewish community and therefore imperative to state my halachic (Jewish legal) opinion that it is forbidden for anyone to buy or read this book, or give its author a platform in any way shape or form to discuss this topic,” wrote Rabbi Immanuel Schochet, professor at Toronto’s Humber College and leading Rabbi at Beth Joseph Synagogue.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach believes Jews need to rebuild their old roots with Christians through Jesus as 65 million Zionist Christians’ support is very essential for the survival of Israel.

“Rabbi Schochet, though no fault of his own, came of the age when Christians were seen primarily as proselytizers and as enemies of our people. But the past few decades have changed everything. Christians are today the state of Israel’s best friends. They visit Israel and support it arguably even more consistently than the Jewish community,” Boteach said in response to Schochet’s criticism of his book.

Rabbi Boteach’s above excuse reminds of 2004 article written by Mark Ames, a Moscow-based Jewish American journalist and editor, titled Save A Jew, Save Yourself which is a MUST READ even today.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach 45, was a close friend of King of Pop, Michael Jackson, for many years until the later fired his Jewish associates. After Michael’s death, Boteach confirmed that Michael was not anti-Semite – citing the mother of Jackson’s two older children was Jewish.

“He did good in his life and he made people happy – and for some of whom he was very special – but he may indeed had been guilty of serious crimes,” Boteach was quoted in daily Ha’aretz, September 19, 2009.

“It’s time that the Jewishness of Jesus be rediscovered by Christians,” Boteach says in defense of his book.

Historically, Jesus was not Jewish nor was Moses. Both were Israelites, sometimes called ‘Hebrew speaking people’. As Israeli historian Dr. Shlomo Sand has claimed in his book, The Invention of the Jewish People, that the word “Jew” was invented only a century ago.

Boteach claims in the book that Jesus was a “Torah observant” whose mission was to bring his fellow Israelites back to Moses Law (Torah) and fight Romans. Boteach also claims that Jesus never claimed to be “divine” – and reject Jesus to be “Saviour ordained by God“. I agree with Rabbi Boteach over there except the cunning rabbi keeps mentioning old-timer Israelites as “Jews”. Over 95% of world’s 12.7 million Jewry has its tribal roots in Khazarian Turks or North African Berbers. The vast majority of remaining Israelite people are among Arab Muslims and Christians.

In 1999, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach authored the book “Kosher Sex”, for which he came under fire from several fellow rabbis.